No final list of BTA appointees — OPAPP

MANILA, Philippines — Contrary to reports on social media, there is still no final list of appointees to the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) clarified yesterday.

“The list being circulated on various social media platforms is fake,” OPAPP said in a statement. “The final and official names of appointees will only come from the President.”

Included in the supposed list are Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Al Haj Murad, MILF vice chairman Ghazali Jaafar, MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal and Abdullah Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo.

The OPAPP said it has submitted names of the nominees to the Office of the President for review. 

The OPAPP advised the public to be “prudent and judicious about what they see and share on social media.”

President Duterte is expected to announce the members of the 80-member body that will oversee the interim government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) during a three-year transition period.

The creation of the BTA is provided under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed between the government and the MILF on March 27, 2014.

Malacañang had earlier said the BARMM would be in place as soon as the President constitutes the BTA, unless the Supreme Court nullifies the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

The entire province of Lanao del Norte voted against the inclusion of its six towns in the BARMM during the plebiscite on Jan. 21.

In North Cotabato, 61 barangays in its seven towns voted for inclusion in the BARMM.